Matt Dowdy, Assistant Director – Texas Tech Athletics (Photo Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics)
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech senior left-hander Brittany Talley was named the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week Tuesday afternoon after tossing 11.1 shutout innings last weekend at the Lions Classic.
Talley, a Little Elm, Texas, native, is the first Red Raider to be named the conference Pitcher of the Week since Ashly Jacobs earned the honor on April 8, 2008. She is just the third Tech pitcher all-time to garner the accolade, joining Jacobs and Amanda Renfro, who received the award six times over her illustrious career from 1998-2001.
Talley was nearly flawless during her two outings last weekend, recording a two-hit, complete game shutout of Nicholls State on Friday evening before returning two days later and holding Texas Southern to no runs on four hits in her 4.1 innings.
The Red Raiders (3-2) won both games, 2-0, thanks to Talley’s work in the circle as she allowed six combined hits while holding opponents to just a .154 batting average and striking out 11 hitters. Talley matched her career high by striking out seven against Nicholls State alone.
The southpaw was the only Big 12 pitcher with at least 10 innings pitched to not allow a single run, earned or unearned, and one of three to record a perfect 0.00 earned-run average. Tech was the only league school with multiple pitchers recording perfect ERAs as Gretchen Aucoin also held opponents scoreless over her 5.1 innings.
The accolade marks the sixth time in head coach Shanon Hays’ tenure where a Red Raiders has received a Big 12 weekly with the most recent being Adriana Perez on April 3, 2012.
Talley and the Red Raiders return to the diamond Friday morning to open the Troy Cox Classic in Las Cruces, N.M., where Tech will face the likes of Northern Colorado, Weber State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and host New Mexico State.
